SOIL MICROBIOLOGY Diversity of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in a Brazilian Atlantic Forest Toposequence Joice Andrade Bonfim 1 & Rafael Leandro Figueiredo Vasconcellos 2 & Thiago Gumiere 1 & Denise de Lourdes Colombo Mescolotti 1 & Fritz Oehl 3,4 & Elke Jurandy Bran Nogueira Cardoso 1 Received: 27 April 2015 /Accepted: 6 August 2015 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015 Abstract The diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) was studied in the Atlantic Forest in Serra do Mar Park (SE Brazil), based on seven host plants in relationship to their soil environment, altitude and seasonality. The studied plots along an elevation gradient are located at 80, 600, and 1, 000 m. Soil samples (0–20 cm) were collected in four seasons from SE Brazilian winter 2012 to autumn 2013. AMF spores in rhizosperic soils were morphologically classified and chem- ical, physical and microbiological soil caracteristics were de- termined. AMF diversity in roots was evaluated using the NS31/AM1 primer pair, with subsequent cloning and se- quencing. In the rhizosphere, 58 AMF species were identified. The genera Acaulospora and Glomus were predominant. However, in the roots, only 14 AMF sequencing groups were found and all had high similarity to Glomeraceae. AMF spe- cies identities varied between altitudes and seasons. There were species that contributed the most to this variation. Some soil characteristics (pH, organic matter, microbial activity and microbial biomass carbon) showed a strong relationship with the occurrence of certain species. The highest AMF species diversity, based on Shannon’s diversity index, was found for the highest altitude. Seasonality did not affect the diversity. Our results show a high AMF diversity, higher than common- ly found in the Atlantic Forest. The AMF detected in roots were not identical to those detected in rhizosperic soil and differences in AMF communities were found in different alti- tudes even in geographically close-lying sites. Keywords AMF spores . Species diversity . Forest soils . Glomeromycetes . Seasonality Introduction Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF, Glomeromycota phylum) are the most common microsymbionts of plant roots. These fungi colonize the roots of approximately 80 % of plant species, acting as an extension of the plant root system, leading to im- proved absorption of soil nutrients [1]. In addition to improving acquisition and transport of nutrients through the soil, AMF enhance the ability of the plants to absorb soil water, improve tolerance of biotic and abiotic stresses and contribute to aggre- gate formation in the soils [2]. Generally, tropical forest soils have extremely low pH and limited available nutrients [3]. Because of key roles in plants and soil function, AMF presence may be essential for survival and establishment of forest plants [1]. A diversified AMF Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00248-015-0661-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Joice Andrade Bonfim joice.agro@yahoo.com.br Rafael Leandro Figueiredo Vasconcellos rafaellfvasc@gmail.com Fritz Oehl fritz.oehl@agroscope.admin.ch Elke Jurandy Bran Nogueira Cardoso ejbncard@usp.br 1 Soil Science Department, Soil Microbiology Lab, University of São Paulo, ESALQ, Pádua Dias Ave, no. 11, CEP 13418-900 Piracicaba, SP, Brazil 2 EMBRAPA (Brazilian Company for Research in Agriculture, Husbandry and Environment), 340, Highway, km 127.5, CEP 13820-000 Jaguariuna, SP, Brazil 3 Agroscope, Federal Research Institute for Sustainability Sciences, Plant-Soil-Interactions, Reckenholzstrasse 191, CH-8046 Zürich, Switzerland 4 Departamento de Micologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Avenida da Engenharia s/n, CEP 50740-600 Recife, Brazil Microb Ecol DOI 10.1007/s00248-015-0661-0